Belchamp Walter, Essex
Historical Description
Belchamp-Walter, a parish in Essex, on a small affluent of the river Stour, 4 miles W of Sudbury station on the G.E.R. It has a post office under Sudbury, which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 2194; population, 514. Belchamp Hall is the seat of the Raymonds, and contains an interesting collection of pictures. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of Bulmer, in the diocese of St Albans. The church is a neat high edifice, and contains tombs of the Raymonds. It dates from the Perpendicular period, and the tower contains a very fine peal of 8 bells.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Essex | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Belchamp-Walter St. Mary | |
Hundred | Hinckford | |
Poor Law union | Sudbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Churches
Church of England
St Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin is a building of stone, chiefly in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles (with the exception of the north wall of the chancel, which is Norman) and consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 8 bells: the font is Norman and there are several stained windows: in the chancel is a monument of white and grey marble to various members of the Raymond family, including John Raymond esq. purchaser of the estate, buried here 27 June, 1635; and his wife, 6 December, 1652; Oliver Raymond esq. M.P. for Essex in the Long Parliament, buried 25 March, 1679, and St. Clere Raymond esq. buried 25 October, l690; there is also, beneath a finely-carved canopy of the Decorated period above, the tomb of Sir John Boutetort: the reredos of mosaic work was erected at the expense of the Rev. J. M. St. Clere Raymond M.A. rector of Belchamp Walter 1859-62, by whom also the church was restored in 1860, at a cost of £1,400: there are 276 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Belchamp Walter from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Belchamp-Walter (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Essex is available to browse.
The Essex pages from the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 is online.
Maps
Online maps of Belchamp Walter are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Essex online: